It had been 44 years since the last time fans inside Reed Green Coliseum had experienced a triple-double.
As Andre Curbelo came down with his 10th rebound that was the final tally to his historic mark, he slowly realized that the moment had almost never happened.
Curbelo posted 13 points, 11 assists, and 10 rebounds to help Southern Miss to its first Sun Belt win of the season as the Golden Eagles held on to defeat Georgia State 79-73.
But any notion of such an accomplishment didn't exist for Curbelo just two months earlier since the transfer guard missed the first 10 games of the season under the NCAA transfer waiver policy.
"I have to stay in the moment and live in the present," Curbelo said. "I was struggling mentally and physically. I didn't know what to do. I didn't know how to about my day. I didn't know how to prepare.
"Being here was challenging for me because I didn't know what was going to happen. It was very tough mentally, but my teammates and coaching staff were able to keep me on point and keep me in a good state of mind. Once I got the green light, it was go time."
A court-ruled injunction this past December ruled against the NCAA until the end of the academic year, which now allows multi-time transfer players to play.
"We had just kind of lost hope," said Southern Miss coach Jay Ladner on Curbelo's pending eligibility. "There had been no communication with the NCAA.
"It's very ironic that just a few weeks ago, the mood around here was that he wasn't eligible. He makes a big difference for our team."
The last Southern Miss triple-double was achieved by Ronald Jackson, who posted 12 points, 10 rebounds and 10 blocks against Mercer back in 1980.
"Oh my gosh," Ladner said. "I was probably at that game as a kid growing up and loving it around here. The Beast Hound, as they called him. He was a heck of a player."
For further context, Ladner hadn't even graduated high school yet. In fact, it would be another four years before he would join the program as a player.
"Damn," said Austin Crowley in disbelief.
Aiding Curbelo's night was a 25-point performance from Crowley, who scored 15 of his points in the first half that included him knocking down three buckets from beyond the arc.
The final 10 minutes of the first half turned into a series of runs as Georgia State (6-7, 1-1 Sun Belt) cut down on the Golden Eagles' lead after going on a 13-3 run to narrow the score to 38-35. However, with two minutes left, Southern Miss (7-7, 1-1) answered with a 6-0 run to go into halftime with a 44-35 lead.
"He's a playmaker," Crowley said. "It's always good to play with playmakers like himself. He's another scorer for us, which opens up the court. They can't send double (teams) all the time. I struggled with that early on, with getting doubled every time I touched the ball.
"With the playmakers out there, I was able to get good shots early and got on a roll early."
As Southern Miss led 70-59 with nine minutes left in the second half, Curbelo learned during a media timeout that he was one assist and three rebounds away from reaching a triple-double.
"I never play for that," Curbelo said. "It just happened to be a good time for me to do it. I was able to get an assist right away and then three rebounds after that. I have to give all the credit to my teammates and coaching staff."
Southern Miss managed to hold off a late comeback by the Panthers, which narrowed the score to 77-73 with over a minute left in the game, but late free throws by Crowley sealed the victory.
Southern Miss will now take on No. 19 James Madison on Saturday at 2 p.m. It's the first time that the Golden Eagles will host a ranked opponent since 2011.
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